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 Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:36 pm
◈ ξʅӄξ Ȼɑʋєɍs ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈  The long day with the League apprehending Amazo followed up by a long night that went early into the morning managed to touch upon Elke's fatigue. She was beat for the night and really needed to get home and rest in order to be of any use to her fellow league members in the morning. As a super hero or whatever it was they were considered, there was always something to do and places to be. People always needed help, whether it was an old granny unable to see to cross the street or buildings being set on fire with children still inside: the range of work was vast. Vast was a good thing, though, it kept the officer on her toes and maintained her interest. If every day was the same boring, mundane routine it was very likely she'd end up as one of the baddies just for the sake of something being different. Routines for exercises and training was one thing but days clustering together that were all the same was just not acceptable in the blonde woman's views. And it was precisely that unpredictability that kept her interest but also wore her down in the process.
As for trusting Mason, when he went to interview neighbors entirely independently of her she was somewhat forced to take his word for what information he'd gathered. It wasn't like she was going to go back and risk irritating the couple by asking the exact same questions Mason had likely asked them before her arrival. Interviewing them twice, especially that late was just plain inconsiderate since people had their jobs and lives to attend to. Irritating potential witnesses just wasn't a good idea. Of course, if they lied to her based on the fact she'd interviewed them twice she could always charge them with withholding information as well as intentionally misleading and lying to an officer. It could even go so far as to charge them with third or fourth degree murder. However, Elke wasn't a pushy officer and intimidation tactics were really not her style. All in all she was pretty much forced to believe Mason for the time being until something else happened to cause her to believe otherwise.
All the patrolling she'd done in her junior years of being an officer was a testimony to just how late she was able to stay up (not to mention her power kept her very well fueled during the late hours that were absent of light). Pursuits that stemmed from night all the way into the morning were not experiences she was unfamiliar with. Since she'd undergone the experimentation process, however, she'd been placed into a special unit of the police force that was assigned more difficult, potentially dangerous tasks that the force did not wish to expose their powerless force to. Of course, she was an experiment so they had kept a very close eye on her at first in case she experienced side effects that prevented her from properly performing her duty. However, after a year of evaluation they deemed her competent and capable of continuing to serve as an officer. Endurance and stamina were requirements of her profession and the officer was most definitely in peak condition at all times.
Being pick pocketed by the person she was generous enough (despite the fact he annoyed the ******** out of her) to give a ride home to most definitely wasn't the first thing she was expecting from Mason. It was early morning and the officer was far more focused on the road and getting the two home safely than preoccupying herself with worrying about what Mason could possibly be doing on the back of her motorbike. Fortunately for Mason, her semi-tired state combined with her sense of slight ease enabled him to successfully pick pocket her, an officer of the law. The irony of it all would not have been lost on Elke if only she'd been aware of the occurrence to begin with.
Normally Elke was a light sleeper but fortunately for Mason the day and night before had caused her to fall asleep the instant she'd hit her pillow, not something that often happened for the officer. Under normal circumstances, as well, her doberman, Lincoln would have been in the apartment to alert her to the fact someone had ventured too close to the door or in Mason's case had picked her locks but he was at her parents' home since her schedule had suddenly picked up a lot more with joining the League. Despite her best efforts to be home on time for him it hadn't been working out so Elke was now paying her younger sister to dogsit her baby pooch. In all honesty he wasn't a baby any longer, he was two years old, but in Elke's mind he would always be her baby. It was probably just a woman thing she wasn't quite able to shake.◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ Despite the fact Mason had left coffee and doughnuts accompanied by a note that would inevitably piss her off on the table, Elke had not stirred until her phone began ringing one of the most obnoxious ring tones she'd ever heard in her life. It was a tone she did not recall placing on her phone or ever having heard before at all and when she went to pick it up. Upon seeing the icon of Mason's face she frowned with absolute confusion. This had to be a dream, she sure as hell hadn't given him her number and there was no way he'd gotten a hold of her phone lasting evening either. Deciding to go along with the rather annoying dream (or so she thought, anyhow), she picked the phone up with the click of a button. Sleep lined her voice along with hesitance and curiousity. "Hello?"
She didn't really know what to expect, sure the icon on her phone and the fact the ring tone was super annoying drove her to expect Mason's voice but with all the weird stuff that had happened to her lately she wouldn't be surprised if it somehow wasn't. If she was lucky maybe it would be a lead or something instead of Mason but she doubted she'd be that lucky. Perhaps it was a trap of some sort and someone had abducted the iron man and was now impersonating him in his place. Unlikely. Highly unlikely as that still never explained how the ******** the dude had gotten a hold of her number in the first place. It was definitely something that had the officer wondering.
◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Apartment ◈
◈ He WOULD show up even in my dreams ... ◈
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:34 pm
 Elke's voice said it all. With just one word, Mason easily caught on to her confusion... and the fact that she was just waking up. In reality, he'd completely forgetten that she was still under the impression that she didn't have his number. Well she was in for a rude awakening then. He smirked slightly, though she wouldn't see it over the phone. "Good morning, Sunshine." he chimed tenderly, biting back a chuckle at himself. When he had been saving his number to her phone, he'd predicted a more irritated, angry answer to the first time he called. This wasn't it. but he was sure he would be in for an earful once she realized what he'd done.
"I'm glad you're finally up." He mentioned before giving her a chance to respond to him. The fact that she hadn't ignored his call, or immediately gone on the attack made it pretty clear she hadn't found his gift yet. As nice of a gesture as it was, he somehow didn't see her taking it that way. Of course, he didn't want his kind feat to go unnoticed. "Eat up, I'll head over." And with that, he hung up, never letting her get a word in edge-wise. She was probably still trying to put all of the pieces together anyway.
...
This time he parked the sleek motorcycle right in front of his curly-haired friend's apartment, instead of around the corner. He didn't have to stop at the cafe this time, after all. He'd already brought the cop her donuts and coffee for the morning. With a helmet nowhere in sight, he didn't fuss with his bike or (non-existent)protective-wear and made his way to the door immediately after dismounting. He'd received a few tickets for breaking the helmet laws before. In the past he had been very careful about not being caught again. With too many close calls, he couldn't risk being brought in because he hadn't been able to follow simple rules.
But now he was on the straight and narrow... for the most part. Like potheads being caught because of a broken tail light, he didn't have to hide anything anymore. Since arriving in Metropolis he hadn't caused any trouble. He deemed helmets largely unnecessary in his case. He could turn into iron, he wasn't easily injured. His ability would protect far better than any helmet. The cops didn't know that though. He could still be ticketed, but wasn't overly concerned about it.
Rather than breaking and entering, the iron man knocked on the door, and stood patiently waiting outside for her to answer. He did wonder if she would answer. In the case that she didn't, what would he do? He decided to consider the possibility while he waited to see her bright, bubbly face greet him eagerly.
"It's me, open up." He called through the door. He might actually be hurting his chances of getting the cop to answer, but surely she wouldn't leave him standing all by himself on her doorstep.
(I'm sorry lol, but I didn't set it up for them to have much to do in each post... We'll fix dat!) ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Elke's Apartment └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ Little pig, little pig...____________________
____________________...Let me in.
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 1:01 pm
◈ ξʅӄξ Ȼɑʋєɍs ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ ◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ Upon the voice on the other end of the phone confirming that it was, in fact, Mason speaking to her Elke's far off, sleepy expression instantaneously reverted to a glare. Of all the things he decided to call her, he'd chosen to call her sunshine, too. She didn't know why it irritated her that much but seeing as her powers were kind of the exact opposite of just that she couldn't help but be annoyed. In all honesty it probably wouldn't have mattered what he'd said to her or called her, she would have found some reason to hate it and be annoyed with him for it. The guys was just an arrogant p***k who thought he was better than everyone else and enjoyed getting under people's skin. She knew that was his game and that she gave him satisfaction every time she reacted negatively to him but she couldn't help but have great disdain for people who purposely went out of their way to infuriate others. No matter what he did it just seemed to annoy her even if he wasn't trying to. His tone of voice, his smile, his mischievous beady little eyes, EVERYTHING about him annoyed her.
Elke had been so preoccupied with being annoyed by Mason that she had entirely forgotten to question how he had even acquired her number in the first place and by the time she'd reacted to the fact he'd already hung up. Confusion set over her once again but her grogginess had now completely faded, replaced by a determined incentive to investigate just how he had managed to get a hold of her number. Had he somehow managed to jack her phone from her the previous evening? She, however, turned to an even more important detail from his brief dialogue in their phone conversation. Had he said he'd be heading over? Over to where? The Watch Tower? Surely he hadn't meant her apartment. There was no way in hell he knew where she lived, she wasn't listed in any phone books or anything of the sort for him to nose about in and find out where she lived.
As the officer stood there in contemplation, t-shirt and pajama shorts still on, she decided she was better off getting on with her morning and not wasting her time muddling over Mason. She could get to the bottom of this later. After all, there was always time for questions once she got to the Watch Tower. Instead, she decided to start her morning routine by getting up and making herself some breakfast: likely toast and an apple. Toast was just simple and easy to make and as long as it was whole grain it held some nutritional value. The debate this morning, however, would be whether she wanted peanut butter or simply butter on top. Peanut butter was definitely the more hearty option but toast with a thin layer of butter was simply something one could never go wrong with. All this passed through her mind as she made her way down the hallway to her kitchen, which, upon arriving in she stopped dead in her tracks.
Sitting there on the table was a coffee, a box of doughnuts, and the most disconcerting piece of all, a letter. For a few moments the cop refused to step foot in her kitchen as if she were afraid a bomb might somehow go off. She stared warily at the unwelcome editions to her kitchen for a decent while before finally building up the courage to approach them and come into physical contact with them. Perhaps being a cop had put her on edge a little more so than she should have been but because she had no idea where the food and coffee had come from, she refused to touch it. It could be poisoned, it could be rigged, it could have a bomb or something in it. There was no way she was going to consume it until she knew the source from which it originated. That was when she turned to the letter, hoping to find an answer to her suspicions through it.
She did not bother to retrieve the letter, she treated it exactly the same as she had treated the coffee and doughnuts: as a potential threat. Instead she chose to read it from afar, keeping her distance and assuring that she was safe from any potential harm it could bring to her. Yes, the worst harm a paper could likely bring to her was a mere paper cut but overly cautious was how she played her ball game. Better to be safe than sorry. However, upon scrutinizing the letter she realized the exact origins from which it had been conceived. There was only one person who would be arrogant enough to sign a friggin' letter as 'her partner in justice' and the thought made her steam. Quite visibly her cheeks reddened as her countenance yet again morphed into an ungodly glare. How had all of these things gotten into her house? How had he known where she'd lived to do so and how in bloody hell had he gotten her phone number? Elke wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answers to all these questions as she was already seething over her hypotheses over it.
And then, of course, right on time was the p***k of a devil himself to knock on her door. Did he really have the nerve to show up at her house after having clearly broken into it? Perhaps he had thought his gesture was a kind one but Elke was not at all able to overlook the fact he had to have broken into her apartment in order to plant the contents now laid out on her kitchen table. He'd even gone so far as to tell her to open up. Apparently she didn't have to since he'd bloody invite himself inside her apartment whenever it was he pleased. What a sick cretin. "Why even bother knocking? Apparently you just invite yourself inside my apartment whenever it is you feel like it. How the hell did you get my phone number? And better yet, how the hell did you find out where I live? I can't believe you ******** broke into my house! I can ******** arrest you for that you know! I'm a ******** cop! Are you touched in the head!? Like seriously, what's wrong with you!?"
◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ ◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Apartment ◈
◈WHAT. THE. ********. ◈
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:33 pm
He couldn't help but grin at her response through the door. As amusing as it was, it didn't sound like she was going to let him in. He considered his response for a moment. He had only known Elke a day, and she was right, she could arrest him. Whether it would take or not was the question. She would need indisputable proof. There were so many factors to consider. He'd wiped his fingerprints from the surfaces he'd touched. he remembered precisely because he had caught himself doing it without thinking and question the driving factor: old habits or OCD? He was pretty sure he didn't have any severe OCD problems though, and habits were hard to break. He hadn't left his name in the note, he'd never really liked signing his name even before his life of crime.
Even so, he was sure there was plenty in her apartment to put him away. He wasn't an idiot. He'd been aware as he first entered her apartment. He'd only known her for less than a full day, but her wording sounded promising. She could arrest him for it? That sounded like she wasn't going to, or at least hadn't made up her mind."I'm not sure the League would be happy about that. Putting away one of the team's heavy hitters." he stated, perhaps a tad arrogant, but wouldn't the League be upset if any of its members were arrested? "Besides, if you arrested me, who would bring you breakfast?"
It was a touch disappointing that his purely good intentioned gesture hadn't been appreciated. He wouldn't have broken into her place if she'd only been awake. She could take it as a confession if she really wanted to, it sort of was. "I think you're overreacting," he felt his pocket, considering picking the lock again so that he could at least talk to her face to face instead of through a door. Unfortunately, he'd left his tools with his bike. "Look around if you haven't already, I didn't take anything or mess with any of your stuff." With the exception of her phone. "I just brought you something to eat, I even locked up when I left." he assured her.
He hadn't admitted to what he'd done in a long time and it left him feeling rather vulnerable, especially standing out here on the street shouting it through the door. "Can you just let me in? We have a case to solve." Maybe his honesty would win some points with her. She already knew he'd broken in, the best he could do was cover his a** by not admitting it, but it wouldn't stop her from knowing.
This whole pretending to be stuck outside thing was getting old fast. He shifted his weight in his impatience. There were numerous ways he could get into her apartment and he was getting antsy to use one of them. The least destructive was to pick her lock, which is the route he had considerately chosen earlier. But his iron form could easily smash up the wall or a window, pull off the doorknob... and all with zero injury to himself. But for whatever reason he was trying to get on her good side, and waiting for her to let him in. The thought crossed his mind to pound on the door until she did. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as they say. But he managed to restrain himself.
"I mean, I guess we can go our different ways now. I was planning on finding the kid on my own anyway. It'd be a hell of a lot easier too. You see, I don't have to operate under all your cop rules..." He piped up off-handedly. It was all true, and if she was going to be all uptight about him breaking into her home and refuse to work with him, he would have to continue on on his own. And he would definitely make sure he beat her to the punch. Having something like that to hold over her head would make him quite the happy camper. And it would sure piss her off. "I just hope I don't ******** things up for you." He shrugged, though she wouldn't see it through the door. If she thought he would be considerate of her investigation, she was mistaken. He did what he had to do, and that was that. If he had to screw an entire police force to find this girl, he wouldn't hesitate to do it. ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Elke's Apartment └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ Ouch...____________________
____________________...My feelings.
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Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:58 pm
◈ ξʅӄξ Ȼɑʋєɍs ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ Apparently, in this crazy dude's mind, knowing a person for one day merited breaking and entering into their house. What sort of lunatic broke into someone's house they barely knew and expected them to not take it the wrong way? Was he socially retarded and inept? He couldn't seriously have thought she'd be on the ground kissing his ******** feet for breaking into her house and dumping some coffee (which she didn't drink in the first place) and doughnuts (wow stereotypical cop joke much?/what an a*****e) onto her kitchen table would rectify things? As for finger prints and the like, if she honestly wanted to get them she could take them off of virtually anything: his motorcycle for example. Yes, they would be from his motorcycle but she could play dirty and plant them on her door via transferring them. Putting that much time and effort into being able to arrest him, however, was not something she was willing to do. That and she knew for a fact the apartment had some camera footage.
As much as she would like to arrest him, she figured it probably wouldn't be worth her time. While he did commit petty crime, that was just it, he committed petty crimes that weren't worth her time to throw him in jail over. If there was an officer that was going to arrest him for petty crime it wasn't going to be her. There were plenty of officers out there and if he blatantly broke into where ever it was he pleased it was only a matter of time before he was going to get caught and have the police called on him. "You are lucky," Elke said in a stern tone, clearly unphased and unamused by anything Mason had yet to present her with, "Lincoln was not here or you could have gotten yourself into some real trouble."
"Oh my gawd, are you dense? It doesn't matter if you took my stuff or messed with anything, it's the fact you broke into my home! Have you not ever heard of privacy!? I don't know about you but I don't like mine being invaded! ESPECIALLY by crazy people! Like what time period are you living in? The Stone Age? Were you raised by wolves? Surely your mother taught you better than that! Breaking and entering and invasion of privacy." She listed the offenses pretty systematically but the fact she was beyond astounded and frustrated shone through in her wild gestures that consisted of a lot of flailing of her arms and a fair amount of pacing back and forth. Of course, Mason had yet to be let in so they were not actions he would be able to see her partaking in regardless, not that she would have gone about things any differently had he been standing right in front of her.
"I'm pretty sure," Elke retorted to Mason's comment about being one of the League's heavy hitters, "the League could make do. They did it without us before and I'm sure they could do it again. Aside from that point they probably wouldn't be all that disappointed if they found out you were put away because you are breaking and entering into apartments and gawd knows where else whenever it is you please. That doesn't really give the League a positive image now does it? You want people to fear you and think you are a horrible person because you just break into their houses whenever you feel like it? As for breakfast I am perfectly capable of making that for myself on my own. I am not an helpless child who knows nothing and needs to be watched over."
After issuing her lecture to Mason the crook she was preparing to relent and allow him inside instead of forcing him to stay outside until he made the mistake of telling her she was overreacting. Either he was ******** with her hard core or he really didn't understand the entire concept of why she was upset to begin with. It had nothing to do with the fact that her stuff might have been taken (well, she would have been upset had that happened as well) but it had more to do with the invasion of her privacy as well as not having the decency to ask her. "It doesn't matter that you brought me something to eat or that you locked up after. The fact of the matter is you broke into my home to do so! It is an invasion of my privacy. You could have just asked and if I wasn't awake then you could have waited like a normal person would have instead of breaking into my place. What if someone saw you and called the police? Then what?"
Surprisingly enough this conversation was steadily transitioning from her being irate with Mason to her being concerned for him. If he actually did not see that what he was doing was wrong did that mean he went around in general doing things like this? She didn't know why of all people she would be concerned with how he went about his business or his livelihood but for whatever reason (she rationalized that it was probably due to the fact he was a league team member) she didn't want him to end up behind bars or in trouble of any sort. Finally the officer relented (not without a huge exasperated sigh) and opened the door for the iron man in order to talk to him face to face so he could see her sincerity. Perhaps if he could see the concern in her features he might understand her point of view. "Look. I just don't want to see you arrested and behind bars. I especially don't want to have to be the one who throws you in handcuffs into the back of my squad car and escorts you to prison. You're clearly messed in the head but in your own weird way you care. So yeah."
Immediately after admitting that to him her gaze fell to the floor. She didn't know why it was awkward to her but it was. Probably due to the fact she really disliked the guy yet at the same time felt the need to watch out for him and keep him out of trouble. Yeah the chances of him listening to her were slim to none but at least she had gotten out what she had needed to say. Maybe it would stick with him and actually make him think before he acted in the future. It was highly doubtful, teaching old dogs new tricks wasn't as easy as Myth Busters liked to make it look but she could always hope in vain. For a few moments the bubbly cop went full on silent, eyes still on the floor as she restlessly dragged her right foot back and forth across it until Mason decided to speak up again.
What he said next had clearly caught her attention as her head immediately jerked from the floor back to Mason in the doorway as he finished what he had to say to her. All false hope she'd been pooling together for him had definitely evaporated right then and there. The guy was clearly wanting to do things his own way and felt he didn't need her. For whatever reason his words managed to jab at her and actually hurt her a bit. Of course, she wasn't about to let him know that, instead her eyes focused on him, stoic, waiting for him to finish his part. The hurt she felt wasn't flat out detectable, however, it didn't take a rocket scientist or someone hugely perceptive to note the change in her mood. For those more in tune to the ways of human responses, one might be able to correlate it to to the fact she had her feelings hurt. "If you didn't want to work with me then I don't understand why you stuck around to begin with. Why are you here if you would rather work alone because I'm 'holding you back'? You know what? Fine. Go your separate way. Clearly that's what you want to do. But if I catch you in any illegal activity then that's on you."
Her part being said and Mason still standing outside the door frame despite the fact she had opened it in order to welcome him in, Elke shut the door. She would have said goodbye but she knew she was inevitably going to see him again due to the fact they were both League members. The fact that what he'd said bothered her probably made her just as angry as how ignorant he could be had made her to begin with. If he didn't need her then they had no reason to work together because she had functioned right as rain before he'd shown up. This would be no different. 'Partner' just wasn't her style. Her capacity to trust just wasn't high enough.
◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Apartment ◈
◈ Is this guy for Real? ◈
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:46 am
When she mentioned that he was lucky, Mason perked up. As she continued on his face twisted into a grin. "Lincoln?" he repeated curiously. "You have a boyfriend or something?" He almost felt like he should giggle. Almost. He'd assumed she lived alone. He couldn't imagine the poor sap that had to cohabitate with her.
"Jesus ******** christ, Elke," The iron man managed as the door slammed in his face. Seriously? Was she really going to be all bitchy with him? Did she really not see that he was only trying to help her? She'd tried to act all nice like she cared about him too, but she couldn't like him and hate him all at once. Confusing as s**t was what she was being. And here he was, thinking he was going to get to spend a nice day with his partner solving crimes. Stupid him.
Okay okay... maybe breaking in hadn't been the best option, not in her eyes anyway. Whatever, he didn't need to deal with this. He hadn't done anything, though now he wished he had just out of principle. Maybe next time...
He stood on her doorstep for a moment, deciding on what his best option was. It only took him a moment before a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head expressed just how ridiculous his teammate was being. "Alright, I'll see you around, Sunshine." he announced before getting back to his bike and taking off. If she didn't care enough about her job to let him help her out, then he would just go take care of things on his own.
-----------------------------------------------
Needless to say, he'd invested too much time into this case to just forget about it, and even though he might be reluctant to admit it, he did care about what happened to this kid. But now he would do things his way. Now that he didn't have to accommodate Elke and her law abiding ways, maybe he could actually make some progress. First he'd decided to check out the last few places Katie had been before her disappearance. He'd already been to her house, so his first stop was the school.
He honestly didn't know what he would find there, but it was as good a place as any to start with. Maybe one of the teachers or students had noticed something on the day she had disappeared. He really had nothing else to go on at the moment. Her parents hadn't been helpful and the only clues they had found at her house had been confiscated by Elke.
With the help of some false credentials, FBI to be precise, under a false name Mason didn't have any trouble getting the school to cooperate with his investigation. He talked to her teachers, her classmates, and even got them to get into her locker for him, after a quick call to her parents to get permission. The principal seemed a little resistant to the idea, but the iron man figured it was just a legal thing. After talking to everyone, he felt the locker would yield the best results. Hopefully she had something in it to at least give him some direction.
Inside of the locker was a short stack of books with a bag sitting on top of them. He was easily more interested in the bag than anything, but before he looked through it he quickly flipped through the books just to be sure, gloved hands protecting her belongings from his DNA or fingerprints. The principal stood over him as he knelt on the ground to dig through the bag. There wasn't much in it - a brush, some make-up, a water bottle, and most interestingly a small notebook.
He started flipping through it, it was mostly class notes and little doodles in the margins. Just as he was about to give up though, he came across a small envelope. There was something in it, the size and feel of a business card, and Mason was quick to get it out. 'You're invited.' was centered on the front of the card, and when he turned it over there was only an address, date and time. The date was the same as the date she had gone missing, but the time much later than the time she was thought to have disappeared. Still...
Blue eyes stared at the address for a moment, unsure of what it was he should do with it. He, of course, had every intention of going to the address. What he didn't know was whether he should leave the card here in case Elke had the same idea as him, or if he should take it with him and maybe shoot her a text about it. It wouldn't go over well, he was sure, and he didn't exactly feel like texting her. But even if she came to the school, would she even be able to look through the locker without a warrant or something? There always seemed to be something to hold up investigations by the police.
In the end, he decided that it might actually save his antlered friend some time. If it was nothing, he would be the only one to waste his time on it, and she could more quickly move on to something else. He dropped the card into a sandwich bag that he'd pulled out of his back pocket. The principal questioned it and made some joke about budget cuts to the FBI, but Mason quickly diverted his suspicions.
And then he was off again. He was feeling a little optimistic about his next destination. Even if there weren't any clues there, whoever he found there could probably tell him something. If she had or hadn't been there in particular. It might give him a better idea of when and where she had disappeared. Maybe he would even get lucky and someone had seen something suspicious.
-----------------------------------------------
The address took him to an old warehouse. He got off his bike and stared at the place for a second before approaching it. It was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere without a soul in sight. He glanced around to assure his initial impression was correct, but still failed to find anyone. "Hm..." He had assumed that the invitation had been to a party, but maybe that assumption was wrong. This reminded him of his younger years. This was the sort of place he would have meet with shady characters for one reason or another.
He tried the door and much to his surprise, it opened. After stepping inside it became obvious that it had been a party that Katie had been invited to. The place was trashed. Clearly an abandoned warehouse that some kids had decided to have some fun in. And it looked like a high class event. Maybe one of Katie's rich friends? He remembered Elke mentioning that she didn't seem to have many friends. Maybe they had taken pity on her, or had had other intentions.
Someone had spent a lot of time, and probably money, to decorate the place. Now most of those decorations had fallen down. Confetti and streamers littered the ground along with red cups, obvious spills and a strand of lights. He looked up to see that the lights were still attached to a long chain of lights that had been strung around the place.
It made him wonder if whoever had thrown the party planned on returning to clean up, or at least come back for their things. Tables, couches, lights and other decorations. If it was some rich punk they probably thought of these things as disposable. He considered contacting Elke again, but instead decided to have a look around to see if there was anything relevant here. He had really been hoping to find people that he could talk to and question, but things couldn't always go his way. ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Elke's Apartment ☞ High School ☞ Abandoned Warehouse └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ____________________
____________________Well ******** you too.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 12:56 am
◈ ξʅӄξ Ȼɑʋєɍs ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ Upon being accused of having a boyfriend by Mason, Elke wasn't sure whether to be offended from the tone of his comment or laugh at how ridiculous the notion was to begin with. In the end she sided with being defensive and elusive, deciding not to give him a direct answer or the satisfaction of knowing what she'd meant for sure. Of course, she was certain he was smart enough to eventually piece it together but until he did she could have her fun with the not-so-important mystery. "Oh I'm sure you'd," she rubbed in his face, somewhat indignantly, "love to know now wouldn't you?" She smiled pompously, reveling in what she felt was a small victory in the landslide of so many defeats. Mason had a much easier time getting under her skin than she did his but it seemed the tides had turned slightly with this new development of him breaking into her home.
Had Elke been able to hear Mason's thoughts on the matter of her having a boyfriend or someone living with her, she would have been genuinely offended by his opinion. Sure she was a little rough around the edges and took time to warm up to people but living with her would be far from hell like Mason seemed to think it would be. Like any person she had ground rules and standard expectations but over all she was pretty lenient and easy to get along with. She had a couple OCD-ish traditions and routines that she went about at certain times during the day but they didn't hurt anyone directly affect or involve them either. Because he lived alone and was used to doing so, naturally it would take her time to adjust but it wasn't something she was incapable of. She wasn't some old bat who had her ways set in stone that thought metal music and goth attire were the influences of the devil.
A further victory resonated within her when Mason unleashed an exasperated phrase followed by her name. The smug part of her, her pride was jumping up and down in excitement as it sunk in that she had managed to finally legitimately wipe Mason's smile off his face. She could hear in his voice exactly how annoyed he was even though he had absolutely no right to be. He had broken into her goddamned house and he was going to try to tell her that she didn't have a right to be ******** pissed at him? Was he really going to try and turn things around on her and try to tell her that she was overreacting and being the bad guy after personally picking her lock and breaking into her apartment? Well, she certainly wished him luck in that pointless endeavor. She would never in a million years give him the satisfaction of flipping this around on her and turning her into the bad guy. She was completely and totally in the right and whether he would admit it or not he knew she was as well as she did.
While Mason stood on the door step, Elke stood on the other side of the door listening for signs of life or to see what he was going to say to her next. She was somewhat aghast when he decided to tell her he'd see her around and quite literally took off down the steps just like that as if they'd never been working together in the first place. FINE! If he was going to be that way he could go investigate on his own and travel at a snail's pace compared to her. She had a lot more resources than Mason likely had, after all, he wasn't a police officer that was able to submit things for testing. And while it was nice to have someone new to bounce ideas off of it wasn't like she couldn't ask the opinion of someone else who likely had way more experience (and professional experience at that) than Mason. He wasn't an asset to her investigation at all, she hadn't wanted him to be there to begin with. She had PERMITTED him to tag along. Surprisingly he seemed to have taken it seriously and hadn't been completely annoying but that was aside from the point and did not excuse the fact he'd broken into her house.
Waiting for a solid fifteen or so minutes to assure Mason wasn't pulling a fast one on her and planning to return, Elke felt the immediate need to blow some steam upon realizing he wasn't coming back. How dare he ditch her after she'd compromised her investigation by allowing him to tag along! She could get fired for sharing such incriminating evidence with none other than a burglar of all things! Apparently her judgment in people was rank off the past day or so or rather, she shouldn't have ignored her gut instinct she'd gotten about Mason from the get go. He was trouble and nothing more and him being gone would likely serve her purposes far better than having him tag along to distract her. Maybe he'd behaved the first night but it was likely only to get into her good graces so he could start making things difficult for her later on. She was better off without him, she didn't need a child accompanying her on a formal investigation.
Feeling somewhat disheartened by the entire exchange, Elke chose to console herself by means of surrounding herself with decent company. After taking a shower and finishing HER breakfast as opposed to Mason's gag of a breakfast (she hadn't missed the fact he'd specifically chosen doughnuts) she decided to drive over to her parents' home. She had a decent chat with her mother but as usual Elke was in a bit of a hurry to get on with what she wanted to do as opposed to sit there and listen to her mother gossip about the latest celebrity scandals and movies she should go see. As much as she loved her mother, she had far too much of an obsession with Gabriel Clyne and the lifestyles of celebrities in general. Sure, the guy was definitely one of Elke's favourite actors: he was tall, handsome, had a dazzling smile, sexy voice and could actually act, the whole package but that was in his movies. In real life he was probably some huge douche that no one liked. Soon enough she managed to achieve her objective and main motive for coming to the house: to take Lincoln for a walk. Once she managed to grab the leash and get her shoes on she was out the door with a little more eagerness than she should have had considering she hadn't seen her mother for a couple weeks.
The liberty of simply relaxing and taking a walk was certainly not lost upon the officer. Every once in a while she had to trick herself into thinking she was relaxing despite the fact she knew the case would plague her subconscious until she cracked it. The earlier argument with Mason was slightly demoralizing as well. Perhaps in his own weird way he had been trying to be helpful and maybe she had been- ******** no, he'd broken into her friggin' house! What was he expecting? A, "oh thanks Mason you're so awesome with your thief skills, do you know how to hotwire cars too?" If he thought that was going to fly with her he was dead wrong. She had a job she needed to keep and considering she hadn't arrested him was something he should have been grateful for.
As if fate didn't hate her anymore than it already had, sure enough she happened to be walking by a local warehouse that had just been relocated and as a result, vacated, when she saw Mason. The fact he was entering an abandoned warehouse already had her suspicious and naturally she followed through with her intuition. She had to make sure he was upholding the law and not partaking in any criminal activity. Her mind made up, she followed in suit behind him, Lincoln in tow. If she was caught on the premises she could easily say she was a cop performing an investigation: the general public usually wasn't smart enough to require more than a badge when technically she was supposed to be in uniform as well unless she was undercover to conduct formal investigations. Mason, on the other hand, was a civilian and technically breaking the law by trespassing.
Elke decided to take advantage of Mason's distraction of the condition the warehouse was in and stealthily appear behind him, Lincoln still in tow. From behind him she was quick to ask, "So what exactly are you doing here? I don't assume you have a permit to be here nor are you a worker here so technically you're trespassing on private property. That would bring you up to two felonies I'm currently overlooking. Hope your explanation's a good one."
◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Apartment ◈
◈ Can't take the Crazy out of a Crazy Person ◈
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:43 pm
Elke smirked when he jumped in surprise, having not heard her approach, though with that dog of hers he really should have. He must have just been too focused on the job he was doing and had tuned everything else out. He didn't like it - that smirk on her face. It meant she'd won this battle, before he'd even known about it. All that meant was that he would have to make up for it later. But his attention quickly turned to the Doberman accompanying the blonde.
The dog was initially hesitant but after giving his hand a good sniff he let Mason pet him. And the iron man made fast friends with him. "Oh, Lincoln?" he repeated after Elke told him the dog's name "So you're Elke's boyfriend?" he continued speaking to the dog as opposed to his owner "That's a relief, I was starting to feel sorry for the poor guy. But between you and me," he lowered his voice a little as if to keep Elke from overhearing "I think you could do better." he winked at the dog as he scratched him behind the ears.
He looked up to see Elke looking around at the place and made his comments about doing her job. It certainly struck a chord with her as she immediately turned on him to remind him that he was in the wrong. "Wow, relax there little lady," he got back up on his feet to address the matter, hands held out in a 'stop' gesture to halt her fury... maybe. "I've got your back, that's what partners are for, right?" A hand reached into a coat pocket to pull out the invitation he had confiscated from the missing girl's locker, sealed in a sandwich bag, and held it out to show the uptight blonde.
"I just couldn't get it all out of my head so I went to the school and looked through Katie's locker. This was the only interesting thing I found so I came to check the place out." he explained. He was a little proud of himself, it was the only lead they had after all... even if it came up cold. "I'm still not convinced you weren't stalking me, this is a pretty big coincidence..." He eyed her suspiciously but she was still steaming. He managed to completely ignore the fact that she was implying he needed to but out of the investigation. At this point he'd put in too much time to hand it over to her and forget about it now.
He was actually surprised that she wasn't working right now, that she was out taking a stroll with her dog. She seemed like the OCD workaholic type and kidnappings seemed like they should be high priority so the fact that she wasn't pouring over evidence or files or whatever it was detectives did when they were looking for a lead came as a bit of a shock to him. "I also did a joy ride around the Beckers' neighborhood and couldn't find the car the neighbors had seen." He'd been busy today, but it wasn't like he had a whole lot going on otherwise.
"Oh!" He quickly dug into his coat pocket again when he remembered something he had... acquired earlier. He pulled out a thin wallet-like object and flipped it open to reveal his very own detective badge. "Detective Presley." He'd contacted an old associate that happened to know the East coast scene well enough to help him get a quality fake badge and ID. There was no way someone would question it unless they already had reason to think he wasn't a detective.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Abandoned Warehouse └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ____________________
____________________I guess I'll being doing all of the leg work...
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:39 am
◈ ξʅӄξ Ȼɑʋєɍs ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ The officer was unable to contain a smirk at the satisfaction of successfully sneaking up on Mason and legitimately causing him to jump. It was a small victory she would savor against the relentless annoyance and nuisance that Mason chose to make of himself. Him and Dennis the menace would have probably had a friggin' ball together if the character was real and Mason had gotten the opportunity to meet him. Hell, Mason was probably just Dennis personified. He seemed to have a knack for always being there when she didn't want him there and meddling with things she didn't want him to meddle with. It seemed today was no exception and for whatever reason his agenda had brought him to this abandoned warehouse.
Upon him softening up when seeing Lincoln, she couldn't help but perceive him as a child yet again. This time it wasn't Dennis the menace but he certainly seemed to have a glow in his eye similar to what a child would have whenever they encountered something new and exciting. She maybe would have brought herself to call it adorable if it hadn't been for the simple fact this was Mason she would have been referring to. The fact that he seemed perfectly content to offer a hand to Lincoln and proceed to forget Elke existed like he was in another world once the doberman decided the stranger meant no harm was strange. Perhaps he had some form of sentimental attachment to dogs or he was just choosing to pretend Elke didn't exist to annoy her. That was always a possibility she couldn't fully rule out either.
"His name," Elke decided to enlighten the nuisance of an iron man, "is Lincoln."
She stood there wordlessly for a few moments as Mason continued to pet her doberman and decided to take a quick analytical sweep of the place. Evidently from all the cans and bottles on the ground there had been some sort of party here. Obviously it had been low key enough that no one from the force had been called in to deal with it. Among the sea of cans and bottles were decorative streamers that had since fallen and various streams of confetti lying all across the floor. Elke too hadn't failed to miss the pink thong, considering it stuck out like a sore thumb just lying there on the floor. High school kids certainly seemed more rowdy these days than when she had been one.
Elke's attention was drawn away from examining the details of the warehouse once Mason started spouting off inaccurate bullshit in order to get a rise out of her. The notion of Mason suggesting she wasn't doing her job and he'd decided to step in and take her place highly irritated her. If there was one thing anyone who knew Elke would advise others not to do, it would be to suggest she was bad at her job and incompetent. As a workaholic and perfectionist she did not handle the criticism well at all. The moment she registered what Mason said, her countenance immediately reverted to a frown. "And just who," Elke lashed out at the iron man, clearly taking what he'd said to her to heart, "do you think you are? Telling me how to do my job, implying that I'm not competent enough to do my job and butting in on a case that you have no authority to be investigating to begin with?"
It wasn't too long before the officer found she was issuing all of her inner will power to resist the urge to strike or shove the man before her. Not only did he choose to undermine her but he decided to make jokes about her stalking him immediately after insulting her. Did this guy just feed off of people's annoyance that much? What a clown. How could he expect anyone to take him seriously if all he did was try to piss people off? In all honesty he was probably prying into her investigation, not because he wanted to help rescue a kid but probably to sabotage her and attempt to make her look bad in front of her employers. That was something she was absolutely not going to have happen.
◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Warehouse ◈
◈ Headache is starting already ... ◈
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:21 pm
Elke smirked when he jumped in surprise, having not heard her approach, though with that dog of hers he really should have. He must have just been too focused on the job he was doing and had tuned everything else out. He didn't like it - that smirk on her face. It meant she'd won this battle, before he'd even known about it. All that meant was that he would have to make up for it later. But his attention quickly turned to the Doberman accompanying the blonde.
The dog was initially hesitant but after giving his hand a good sniff he let Mason pet him. And the iron man made fast friends with him. "Oh, Lincoln?" he repeated after Elke told him the dog's name "So you're Elke's boyfriend?" he continued speaking to the dog as opposed to his owner "That's a relief, I was starting to feel sorry for the poor guy. But between you and me," he lowered his voice a little as if to keep Elke from overhearing "I think you could do better." he winked at the dog as he scratched him behind the ears.
He looked up to see Elke looking around at the place and made his comments about doing her job. It certainly struck a chord with her as she immediately turned on him to remind him that he was in the wrong. "Wow, relax there little lady," he got back up on his feet to address the matter, hands held out in a 'stop' gesture to halt her fury... maybe. "I've got your back, that's what partners are for, right?" A hand reached into a coat pocket to pull out the invitation he had confiscated from the missing girl's locker, sealed in a sandwich bag, and held it out to show the uptight blonde.
"I just couldn't get it all out of my head so I went to the school and looked through Katie's locker. This was the only interesting thing I found so I came to check the place out." he explained. He was a little proud of himself, it was the only lead they had after all... even if it came up cold. "I'm still not convinced you weren't stalking me, this is a pretty big coincidence..." He eyed her suspiciously but she was still steaming. He managed to completely ignore the fact that she was implying he needed to but out of the investigation. At this point he'd put in too much time to hand it over to her and forget about it now.
He was actually surprised that she wasn't working right now, that she was out taking a stroll with her dog. She seemed like the OCD workaholic type and kidnappings seemed like they should be high priority so the fact that she wasn't pouring over evidence or files or whatever it was detectives did when they were looking for a lead came as a bit of a shock to him. "I also did a joy ride around the Beckers' neighborhood and couldn't find the car the neighbors had seen." He'd been busy today, but it wasn't like he had a whole lot going on otherwise.
"Oh!" He quickly dug into his coat pocket again when he remembered something he had... acquired earlier. He pulled out a thin wallet-like object and flipped it open to reveal his very own detective badge. "Detective Presley." He'd contacted an old associate that happened to know the East coast scene well enough to help him get a quality fake badge and ID. There was no way someone would question it unless they already had reason to think he wasn't a detective. He'd never bothered much with fake IDs, not since he'd been a teenager, but he knew where to go to get good ones, and badges apparently.
It would definitely help him in gaining access to places he would otherwise have to sneak into - which wasn't really a huge problem for him. He could sneak if needed, though in his career he'd always been more of a smash and grab type. Pick-pocketing required a certain slyness however, and it was one of his specialties. He'd lifted Elke's wallet to get her address after all. His charm was good enough to get him into all sorts of places, but unfortunately it didn't always cut it. A badge would make up for that in spades. He hadn't actually used it yet - he'd had no need thus far - but he would if needed. He couldn't follow Elke around like a lost little puppy (no offense, Lincoln) while she flashed her badge all around town.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Abandoned Warehouse └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ____________________
____________________I guess I'll being doing all of the leg work...
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:33 am
◈ ξʅӄξ ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ ◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ "Lincoln's," Elke said in an uncharacteristically enthusiastic, baby voice a lot of owners tended to use toward their animals to get them excited, "a perfectly peachy pooch, isn't he? He loves mom and grandma, doesn't he? Yes he does, oh yes he does!" At that point she'd already knelt down on the ground to rub the dog on either side of his neck to massage him and receive a few kisses. She then looked back up to Mason with a small smirk, "He gives some pretty good kisses. He's by far the best boyfriend I've ever decided to invest my time in. Isn't that right, Lincoln?" She decided to take his leash off and allow the dog to wander the abandoned complex. She assumed Mason had already scoped the complex out and Lincoln was well trained enough to return if he was beckoned.
As soon as Mason mock whispered to Lincoln that he thought the dog could do better, the officer uncharacteristically smirked at the insult but only for a brief moment before shoving the iron man playfully. The mischievous grin had likely been an indication of her ploy but she doubted the iron man would have an adequate amount of time to react to it. It was out of character for her (when it concerned Mason at least) to be playful and goofy so the element of surprise in itself would likely be enough to throw the vigilante off her trail. Maybe she was finally getting used to him and growing to accept his nuisance of a presence. Or maybe he'd just caught her in a good mood after having gotten a decent night of sleep for once.
Lingering on the thought of having a decent night sleep, she recalled the mixed gesture of Mason breaking into her house in order to give her breakfast. She still was uncertain of whether to think the notion was sweet or just another one of his many pranks: it had been doughnuts of all things he'd chosen to bring her after all and she wasn't one to overlook such details. Doughnuts, for police officers especially, held the implication that she was lazy and would rather gorge on sweets than actually do her job. And Mason was definitely smart enough to know she'd probably pick up on such implications.
Then again he had brought her breakfast and had seemed genuinely upset when she'd turned him away. Recalling the moment almost made her feel guilty for having been cross with him over breaking into her house. Wait. What the ********? He'd broken into her house and SHE was the one feeling guilty about getting mad at him for it? What logical sense did that make? Absolutely none and yet she still felt the need to make amends. "Look," she stated genuinely yet reluctantly with a sigh, "I'm sorry for getting mad at you this morning. It was sweet of you to bring me breakfast. Not so much the breaking into my house part but the bringing me breakfast was nice." She didn't really know where she was going with this. She had every right to be upset with him and yet she couldn't fully bring herself to stay mad. It was almost like a puppy destroying one of her favourite things but the fact it hadn't actually intended harm and happened to be adorable as ******** inhibited her from remaining mad.
After she'd taken a moment to clam down she'd also realized, after his explanation for why he was here, that he was actually serious about solving this case whether it was with or without her. Part of her admired his determination, the other part, however, found his insistence on barging into her case irritating beyond belief. In the end, however, she'd personally concluded that it was probably better to work with Mason as opposed to against him: plus it was a much better idea to keep an eye on him than allow him to function independently. This way she could at least make sure he was mostly abiding by the law. There was also the added bonus of two heads being better than one and Mason was a lot more intelligent than she'd initially pegged him to be. Whether it proved to be a pleasant surprise or a thorn in her side, however, remained to be seen.
"So are you telling me," Elke inquired with a slightly skeptical and guarded tone of voice, "that when I dropped you off last night you never went to sleep?" She found it hard to believe that he would have stayed up for the duration of the evening considering they hadn't retired until time had sifted into the early morning for them. In all honesty she would have stayed up if she'd been able to but between the Watch Tower visits and performing her duty as an officer, she was utterly exhausted. It was a wonder she'd maintained a tolerance for anyone let alone the likes of Mason. Regardless, disbelief lined her features as she awaited his response. She understood working on a case being her job and her duty but for someone with no sentimental connection to the case to show such a drive to uncover the truth, she was almost moved by the selflessness of his act. It was even starting to have her wonder if her initial conceptions of Mason had perhaps been wrong but she wasn't about to lower her guard where he was concerned just yet.
It turned out even workaholic officers could bite off more than they could chew at times and in all honesty she had started feeling the pressure as well as just how much she was overworking herself. Taking on such a high profile case while trying to maintain her attendance at the Watch Tower had turned into a complicated juggling act and she wasn't a trained performer or acrobat. She'd honestly just needed a small moment to herself in order to breathe and also to see her family. While she did love her job and took it very seriously, she also loved her family and never enjoyed being away from them for lengthy periods of time as her job sometimes demanded of her. Some me time never hurt anyone either and honestly, she'd just been planning to go for a walk to spend some quality time with Lincoln and then resume her investigation. "The only thing we can really conclude from that is that it wasn't a regular vehicle within the area, which all the neighbors made testimonies stating they didn't recognize it as a resident vehicle. The fact it left and hasn't returned, however, is definitely of interest. Would be nice to catch a break and get a license plate number or something. That's probably too much to ask for, though."
Elke had been about to chastise Mason for forging a false ID when prominent barking followed by a snarl from Lincoln stole her attention. She'd trained her doberman well enough to know he didn't bark for no reason and snarling was completely uncharacteristic of the dog. The officer instantly tensed at the chilling realization that the warehouse potentially hadn't been fully abandoned. Already she'd drawn her gun, something she never left home without, and urgently began following Lincoln's barks and snarls toward the next room over. Before she reached the door, however, a loud bang sounded, one she recognized all too well. Her heart froze as her fear was confirmed and the loud whimper of her baby rang throughout the warehouse.
Initially Elke was trembling and evidently struggling not to completely lose her calm, however, the inner struggle was pushed aside as her reactionary line of duty persona took over. All sign of emotion drained from her countenance within a manner of moments. Despite the fact her eyes had been lined with fresh silent tears, she'd allowed instinct to take over and autopilot for her. It conveniently replaced her emotions with the stoicism, precision and calculated movements required for her survival. Dealing with criminals was akin to a mental chess game, only the stakes were much higher: one wrong move and someone ended up dead. She was by no means a new player when it came to this particular game. It was evident in the way she moved and reacted that she was experienced in these particular situations.
While she neared the entrance to the next room, she hadn't approached in a head on fashion, she didn't want the gunman to know where she was coming from or see her through the door. It was common sense and first instinct to someone in her field. Instead, she'd chosen the safer route, to approach from the side. She hugged the wall with her back, and slowly proceeded to inch toward the doorway until she stood directly beside the entrance. She was certain to cover her angles first, assuring there was no one able to shoot at her through the doorway from her current position. Once she verified there was no one waiting in the far corner of the room to shoot her, she took a swift peek inside the room, assuring to lead with her gun first. The fact no shots had been fired either meant the gunner was waiting for a better shot or they hadn't seen her. Either way Elke knew she needed to reach Lincoln before it was too late, assuming that wasn't already the case ...
◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ ◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Warehouse ◈
◈ Is he ever going to learn? ◈
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:00 am
He couldn't help grinning at the baby voice he was almost surprised to hear coming out of Elke's mouth. He was more surprised she was willing to use such a tone in front of him than anything. It was like she was asking him to tease her. But instead he quietly observed, only momentarily though before his gaze turned back to the doberman. He would get the elk later. "And by that you mean," we she couldn't dangle so much low hanging fruit and not expect him to pick some. "He's the only boyfriend you've ever had?" he teased, grin widening. He couldn't resist poking fun at her. It was all too easy. And as uptight as she usually seemed he wouldn't be surprised if he was dead on.
He teased a bit more, and received a shove from his blonde teammate. He'd seen her mischievous smirk but even if he'd had enough time to react, how would he have guessed that she was finally loosening up? It was almost enough to throw him off balance, but she clearly hadn't actually been trying to knock him over... or she was very weak. And he was a decent sized guy. A hand to the ground effortlessly kept him on his feet, still squatting next to the dog. He chuckled at the playful attack, his grin softening from his normal, troublemaking expression to something more akin to genuine appreciation. Though behind blue eyes the cogs were already clunking away at how he would pay her back for that. As fun as it was to give people s**t, and get girls all worked up over nothing, he also liked it when they weren't afraid (or too boring) to get him back.
He scratched the dog behind the ears one more time before standing up, dusting his hands off as he did so. When Elke spoke up again, eyes met her gaze. She was apologizing. To him? He was half tempted to see if there was somebody standing behind him. And this was the part he hated, the one where he had to return the gesture and apologize to her. "Yeah," he agreed "And I'm sorry for breaking into your house..." his tone was reminiscent of a child being forced to apologize for misbehaving, something he had been made to do numerous times in the past.
She questioned him. She didn't seem to believe that he could actually be a hard worker. But she also didn't have all of the facts. "No, I slept for a couple hours. But I woke up pretty early and thought I'd get a head start to the day." He was just about running on fumes by now. "Speaking of which, I haven't had any caffeine in the last hour so I could go for some more coffee." He was rather energetic, but running on so little sleep after a full day was something even he needed a little help with. Hopefully they wouldn't have any Justice League emergencies in the least. He wasn't sure he was up for any missions at this point. But that could have easily been the lack of caffeine in his body talking. A strong cup of coffee sounded perfect right now. Or a comfy place to sleep, whichever found him first.
He got that she was a busy lady, his words had been teasing at worst. She was working as a police officer in Gotham and a superhero in Metropolis. He wasn't even sure why she kept it up, as goofy as he acted he did notice things. Like the fact that she was spreading herself too thin. She seemed to muddle through most Watch Tower business. And that wasn't to say she didn't give it her all on assignments, but it just seemed to him like she needed a break. Her job surely afforded PTO, cops deserved some time to rest as well as anyone else, and probably needed it more. He honestly didn't know why she didn't move into Watch Tower and, if she really had to keep working, transfer to Metropolis PD. Cutting out her current commute would definitely give her more time to kick back and relax. But then again, maybe there was more to it than he knew. Still, she was going to work herself ragged if she didn't learn to take it easy.
And as much as he liked to be a pain in her side, he did want to help her. He decided then and there to do what he could to keep her updated on Watch Tower goings on. He had her number after all. If nothing was going on, she could take the night off. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't be a headache for her. He was Mason, after all.
She commented on his findings and he nodded in agreement. This was a tough one, they just couldn't seem to catch a break. He then went on to show her the fake credentials he had acquired and she got that look. The one she always got right before she spelled out everything he'd done wrong. And okay, impersonating an officer of the law was a big no-no but they had bigger fish to fry at the moment and he had hoped he would just get a bit of annoyance and they would move on. At least until he started waving it around.
But before she could even open her mouth to chastise him, Lincoln started acting up. The blonde drew her gun and followed the dog, Mason becoming her shadow. When the shot was fired, followed by Lincoln's whimper, Elke seemed to hesitate. The iron man didn't fail to notice, however brief it was. For once, he kept quiet and continued to follow her as she did her cop thing. And Jesus was it a process. No wonder the police were so ineffective. Of course this was the thought of a guy who had built in bulletproofing. Still...
He had never been one to tip toe around danger as Elke was, and he tired of it quickly. As she peaked into the room he brushed by her, tapping her shoulder on the way by, more a gesture than anything. He was there to help, after all, she wasn't in this alone. The shooter was trying to hide behind some crates but Mason caught him peeking around the side and started straight towards him. It must have made him nervous to see an unarmed man approaching, he seemed a little shaken as he fired off another shot that would have torn right through Mason's side. That is, if it weren't for the fact that his entire torso was now made of iron, the dull metal slowly taking over the rest of his form. He stopped for a moment to place a finger on the spot the guy had hit "Hm, not a great shot, are you?"
As Mason neared, without regard for the blonde police officer or the fact that he might need to save some bullets, he unloaded his remaining rounds into the iron man's chest. They made the slightest of dents in his form, but ultimately left him unharmed. It rattled the guy enough to suddenly turn tail and sprint, slamming into a side door to get out of the warehouse and taking off like a bat out of hell. "Take care of Lincoln, I've got this guy." That sentence took as long to say as his form did to return to its softer, human version. He then followed suit and ran after the guy.
Mason was in shape, if nothing else. He ran daily, he was an active guy, and since joining the League he had been taking advantage of their gym. It was almost like running through a wasteland, there really wasn't much around but dirt. Though he could see a neighborhood not far away. Not that he had been taking notes as he chased after the gunman. He had to push himself, but somehow willed himself to run faster, and faster until he got close enough to grab the perp, tugging him back which actually caused them to collide and tumble into the ground. Mason lost his grip in the fall, and the guy nearly got back up before Mason grabbed hold of him again. He managed to pin the guy to the ground, straddling his waist and he held his hands to his chest, using his weight to keep him from escaping.
"Sorry, bud, it's not gonna be that easy..." His right arm left go and drew back, only to strike him in the face with a fist, exerting enough force to knock him out cold. Once the guy was out Mason could relax, the tenseness in his form melted away and he took a moment to catch his breath. The skin on his neck and chest (and side) was hot, he looked down, pulling the neck of his shirt down to see. Red where the bullets had hit him. Even in iron form it turned out he wasn't invincible. Still, being shot at close range like that would have left him bleeding on the ground under normal circumstances.
He returned to the warehouse where he'd left Elke moments later, carrying the shooter over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He was somewhat afraid to return to the warehouse if he was being truthful. Elke loved her dog, was she going to be a wreck? What if he hadn't made it? Even Mason would be upset and he'd only known the dog for a good twenty minutes. But he decided to think optimistically, maybe he'd just been grazed. He just needed a band aid and he would be fine. He could only hope. The iron man entered the warehouse through the same side door he'd chased his new captive out of. He would drop the guy on the ground just as soon as he got to Elke, he wasn't going to risk letting the guy out of his sight. He'd left a pretty presentable guy, but returned a little roughed up - dirty, disheveled, as well as his red to-be bruises. And about to crash after spending what little energy he'd had left. "How is he?" he asked solemnly once in sight.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Abandoned Warehouse └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ____________________
____________________Nap time...
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:08 am
◈ ξʅӄξ ◈ ◈ I see you standing there smilin' with your bright white teeth ◈ ◈ Transparent like a thirty dollar motel sheet ◈ ◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ In all honesty, she wasn't particularly concerned about impressing Mason, especially when it came to how she interacted with her dog. Her pooch was number one in her books, right up there with her family: Lincoln was family. She wasn't a dog fanatic that dressed him up in outfits and bull s**t like that but she did take very good care of him and made sure to spend as much time with him as possible. Of course her recent schedule had begun making that difficult but she still managed to make time for her beloved doberman. Upon Mason teasing her about having a boyfriend yet again, she merely rolled her eyes and responded in kind with a shrug, "He might as well have been. So yeah, we'll go with that. Won't we Lincoln?!" She grinned and rubbed the dog's back then gave him a bear hug before setting him loose.
Elke's shove had been a nudge enough to force him to take a step backwards, or in his case, use a hand to brace himself. She hadn't intended to shove him hard enough to manhandle him to the ground. It had clearly been a playful, harmless attempt. Though Mason was likely stronger than herself, that didn't mean she was intimidated by him or afraid of him. She was an officer, she had been given standard self defense training and had even ventured a little further to learn some techniques that stemmed from martial arts themselves: pressure points. She was conditioned to be able to brawl with people twice her size and trained to deal with such situations. While she couldn't overpower Mason by any means, that didn't mean she was helpless against him. She still had a kit to utilize against him if it ever came to that, not that she was particularly concerned they would ever resort to blows.
In all honesty, Elke was taken aback by the return apology from Mason especially after he'd been so adamant that he hadn't been in the wrong for breaking into her house. The gesture certainly had been an unexpected one but definitely not unwelcomed. That being said, she knew she had to acknowledge it even though she could tell by his tone that his heart wasn't fully in it. She never thought the day would come where she would actually thank the obnoxious iron man but she supposed there was a first time for everything, "Thanks Mason." In all honesty it was probably more difficult for her to swallow her pride and admit she'd been wrong to a buffoon like Mason. What also stung was the realization that Mason wasn't entirely bad: that she had perhaps been wrong about that as well and she hated being wrong.
The officer's eyes, upon hearing Mason's response, immediately narrowed in suspicion and slight disbelief. "Okay," Elke said initially with her hands on her hips while tilting back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels as if she were a human rocking chair all while sizing him up in disbelief, "now you're sounding like me on a typical day: that's creepy. We're not supposed to have things in common." The possibility of Mason and her sharing anything in common had never crossed her mind. She'd had it decided from day one that there was absolutely no possible way they could share a common interest or trait with one another because they were so vastly distinct from one another.
Upon Mason mentioning that he could go for a coffee, she wasn't one hundred percent certain if it was a hint on his part implying that she was supposed to make things up to him by buying him a coffee or if it was merely a simple statement. He had gone through the trouble of getting her breakfast so she honestly didn't mind going out of her way to get him a coffee as a thanks. It was nice, being around a semi-tolerable Mason. If she didn't know better based on her goofing around with him, she'd say she was almost enjoying his company. Now THAT was a frightening prospect she didn't particularly want to linger on. That being said, if he scratched her back, she would certainly be willing to scratch his. "Once we're finished doing a sweep of this place we can take a walk to one of the cafes around here for a quick cup if you want." Had she just invited Mason on a walk with her? What was the world coming to?
Her reasons for refusing to transfer, even to her, were not the most practical but she honestly didn't want to be bound to or trapped at the Watch Tower. She also didn't want to leave Lincoln behind. Moving to the Watch Tower would likely mean she would have to give her pooch up and leave him with her mother. While that was an option: she preferred to be around for Lincoln herself aside from when she had to ask her mother to babysit. Likewise she also didn't want to move away from her family: they were her ultimate support system especially the incident that had inspired her to be an officer to begin with. She absent-mindedly gripped her shoulder while reliving the memory, her countenance quite solemn for a moment before she pulled herself out of her trance in order to focus on their situation at hand. She didn't need to plague herself with memories of a time she'd rather forget entirely.
The moment Mason tapped her shoulder and brushed past her straight into the gunner's line of fire, Elke forgot to stop breathing for a short moment. In her distress, she'd almost forgotten herself and when the bullet hit Mason she half expected him to have a flesh wound and begin bleeding. She was soon reminded, however, by Mason along with his antics, that he was the iron man for a reason. Apparently he could isolate his ability to specific parts of his body: something she hadn't known before now. She hadn't even seen the iron manifest beneath his shirt but she definitely found herself relieved that he hadn't just gotten himself shot in the chest. The last thing she needed was both boys injured while she had to chase a perp down.
Naturally, Mason chose to goad the shooter and frazzle him by pointing out he wasn't a great shot. Mason would be Mason and as long as he didn't get himself killed, she wasn't overly concerned in how he dealt with the shooter. Ideally he wouldn't kill him, she really didn't want to have to file a case in his defense as a witness of pleading his self defense. She trusted he knew how to deal with the man on his own and when he assured her that he could and to take care of Lincoln, she nodded appreciatively. Her watery eyes lingered on the iron man for a moment as he took off after the gunner, her parting comment quite sincere and lined with genuine concern, "Be careful." As annoying as Mason could be she would never wish anything ill upon him. The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt on her behalf.
Once Mason disappeared through a back door of the warehouse outside, Elke immediately scanned the room for any other potential lifeforms that had been missed during the commotion. Assuring the coast was clear, she hastily sprinted over to Lincoln in order to examine the dog's wounds. Her eyes instantly began watering again in reaction to the sight of her formerly perky pooch. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, having been shot in his chest. "Oh my god ... Lincoln." The dog whined in acknowledgement of his owner's presence: she took it as good sign, as small as it was, it was least meant he had enough strength to recognize and acknowledge her. "Don't you worry, pooch, everything's gonna be alright." She wasn't one hundred percent sure whether her words were more to convince herself he would be alright or soothe her wounded canine.
Elke immediately moved to apply pressure to the dog's wound, not even hesitating to removed her scarf and begin using it as a make shift tourniquet, weaving it through the dog's leg and around his neck. The whimpers of pain from the doberman also boding as a tiny positive sign that he was at least still alive. He clearly needed a vet and she needed to get him out of here asap. That being said, she didn't want to risk moving him until they had a vehicle handy. Despite being a dog enthusiast, she'd never had a mortally wounded canine and wasn't even sure if the vets had services akin to ambulances like humans did. She immediately pulled out her phone, performing a search on it all the while stroking her wounded animal. She knelt beside him despite the fact her clothes were absorbing his blood.
She never thought she'd live to see the day where she was grateful to see Mason but his return definitely helped to lift her spirits if only a little. It was evident the woman was struggling not to fully break down into tears and she even made an obvious move to wipe her tears away with her sleeve before responding. "He's shot in the chest," she explained with a slightly wavering voice while moving to hold her own hands over Lincoln's wound to better apply pressure to it. "I called the vet. They have a pet ambulance and they're on their way as we speak. He's responsive and still conscious but he's really hurt ... I never should have let him off the leash. I should have checked this place first ..." At that point, with the build up and admittance of guilt she began sobbing. She didn't want to lose her baby, especially after having not seen him for a decent chunk of time. It would only serve to make her feel worse for not spending more time with him.
◈ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ◈ ◈ You're the devil in a fine designer suit ◈ ◈ Intuition tells me the ◈ ◈ Killer ◈ ◈ IS YOU ◈
◈ I never doubted I'd be back for revenge ◈ ◈ Remember these words: you're going to pay in the end ◈ ◈ Umbrakinesis ◈ Warehouse ◈
◈ Trying not to panic. ◈
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:48 pm
She brushed off his teasing comments again, apparently too secure in herself to be bothered by him making fun of her lack of a romantic life. Unfortunate. Oh well, it wasn't like he didn't have plenty of other things to pick on. She still didn't seem to believe he'd actually been up early to work on the case. He wasn't sure how to prove it to her other than relay what he had found - which he had. It didn't make a big difference to him though. She commented on them actually having something in common and he chortled in response "I'm the one who should be creeped out by that..." His feigned a chill at the idea with a little shiver.
Mason hadn't failed to miss the caffeine craving, or mention it for that matter. He'd been running purely on strong, dark coffee since getting up. Considering he'd only had maybe three hours sleep it was a wonder he could still function properly. Then she said they could go get coffee with him after they were done here and his grin returned. "Great, it's a date! Maybe you'll invite me back to your place afterwards." he stated happily, as well as gave her a wink.
Once he returned with the shooter his attention turned to Elke and Lincoln. "Do you have cuffs or anything?" he asked. "Maybe you should get one of your buddies to pick this guy up too." She was upset, that much was clear. And no wonder, he couldn't blame her. But he didn't want the dimwit that'd shot Lincoln getting away while they tended to the doberman. Mason had hit him pretty hard, but who knew when he would come to? He would have liked to be safe rather than sorry, if at all possible. He asked how Lincoln was doing and she shot off her reply, half rattled half professional. He could honestly say he didn't know what to do.
As far as the doberman went, all they could do was wait for the ambulance and hope for the best. There was nothing the iron man could do that Elke herself wasn't already on top of. For a moment he simply stood and watched her as she cried over the bleeding canine, his stare solemn. He was hesitant to even approach her at first, wanting to give the two some space. But he also couldn't stand idly by and watch this.
His slow steps brought him to the blonde's side and he knelt beside her, blue eyes looking over Lincoln, and then Elke. Was he willing to feed her that 'Everything will be okay' line that everyone threw around haphazardly? No, but he could at least harp against the guilt she was placing on herself. "Elke, shut the hell up." He'd never been good that the sweet and empathetic tone that others didn't seem to have any issue with. "How were we supposed to know there was some a*****e with a gun here? You can't blame yourself for that. Sometimes s**t just happens."
A hand absently rested on her shoulder as he spoke to her and until the ambulance came. They did some work on him in the warehouse to make sure he was okay to move before loading him up and taking him to the animal hospital. Once he was in the best hands possible, Mason was able to find some rope and tie the shooter up, securely enough that he wouldn't be able to move even if he woke up. He'd placed a call to the police to come pick him up, taking the matter into his own hands since Elke still seemed too worried about Lincoln to even think about her job.
She'd been able to ride with Lincoln, luckily. Mason would have felt bad making her wait for him to tie their attacker up rather than getting her to the animal hospital to be with Lincoln, even if she would likely be waiting in the waiting room while they fixed up the doberman. Once he was finished though, he didn't hesitate to meet up with his teammate.
"Hey," He spotted her and rejoined her company "Any news?" Maybe it was because he was tired, or maybe he actually knew when to be serious, but either way his face never cracked into even the slightest smile. His tone wasn't teasing or sarcastic and not even a pun escaped him. He felt terrible. It wasn't his fault, just like it wasn't Elke's, but he couldn't shake the thought that it all could have been avoided. The same thought he was sure Elke had. If she hadn't caught him sneaking around the warehouse Lincoln never would have been anywhere near the shooter. Maybe Mason would have been shot instead though. Lincoln had potentially saved his life, hopefully he would live to know it.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ Abandoned Warehouse - Animal Hospital └────────────────────────────────────────┘ ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ____________________
____________________Fingers crossed.
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:25 pm
 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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